Freedom and Liberty and Constraints
Trey Smith, The Rambling Taoist, cites an article about a college student senator who voted against the creation of a campus gay & lesbian club. The senator said she voted no because of her Christian beliefs. Trey doesn’t agree with the student senator, but applauds her for voicing her reasons, which were much criticized. Writes Trey…
As I've written on RT before, the greatest value of free speech is in understanding that some of the people who freely exercise it will voice an opinion that is unpopular or, at least, an opinion that you or I don't share. If we believe in this right, then we must defend its application for those who are like-minded OR those who state things we abhor. To do otherwise is to negate the very thing we say we believe in.Hokai in hokai’s blog writes his third post on mutuality. He concludes, “The West has indeed gone far with individualism and liberties, emancipating a great and new worldview, and in process has inevitably created some extreme variants. What we certainly don't need is to transplant those gone-astray variants into our contemplative efforts …”
Sujatin of lotusinthemud endorses words of famous blogger-about-blogs Rebecca Blood: “…every act of personal reflection (however minute) followed by the public speech act of opining to the universe is a political act. It is why freedom of speech is so fundamental (and so frightening to the fascists).”
Speaking of Rebecca Blood, this week ~C4Chaos reposted an interview he did with her in C4Chaos.com. In the leadup, she's pictured in a mohawk hairdo and is called the Kosmic Blogging Goddess.
wch of the possibility of fire writes a long, thoughtful post on this theme, “watching good night and good luck forced me to question, again, what i do to combat the gradual erosion of my freedoms.”
And Death Shall Have No Dominion
[ kiped title of a Dylan Thomas Poem. (This is Poetry Month in the US, btw)]
~C4Chaos, still known by a piddling few as coolmel, writes jokingly about disposal of dead bodies in a quick and linkity post this week. One of his cyberleaps is to a post in the blog of Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams. Adams tells us he bought a townhouse, getting rid of all its furnishings except a carpet that he can use to wrap and dispose of dead bodies. “[I]f the situation comes up I don’t want to compound the problem by using my good towels,” writes Adams. At the same time as his blog post, Adams was leaving officeworker Asok in the middle of the desert to die in his cartoon strip about that tangy, common combination: sociopathy and officework.
Douglas Imbrogno of mountainword [formerly, Hundred Mountain Journal], writes a two-part post about a retreat, “Awareness of Death,” at the Bhavana Society Buddhist monastery he is about to attend. Days before, as with any retreat, he cleans up his act, foreswearing booze, ciggies and dank internet haunts. And he ponders the possibility of taking the Five Lifetime Precepts. Hmm. Prob’ly not. In his second post, he recalls a retreat at the same monastery where he conspicuously didn’t take the precepts, and faced Bhante G., to whom he has been a 15-year spiritual friend.
As publisher/editor/all-tasks administrator for the famed Buddhism emagazine Hundred Mountain Journal [1998-2001], Douglas presented two terrific articles about death that are still fully relevant, rot-free and springtime fresh. In “Clear Light of Death,” Ruth Blackwell Rogers learns Tonglen and finds it useful in dealing with her relationship with her father during his final years. In “At the Autopsy,” Walter Schwidetsky writes about at effort of his Theravada meditation group to learn greater detachment from the body and to overcome lust. It is decided that viewing an autopsy would be beneficial in this effort.
Traveling in Northern Pakistan, Will Buckingham picked up a Buddhism book at a used-book store and, on a long bus ride through the mountains, is fascinated by a chapter titled ‘Meditation on the Stages of Decomposition of the Corpse.’ When pulled away from full attentiveness to what he was reading, Will realizes the dangers of the road he’s on with the abrupt fall on one side down to a raging river. “…at that moment, something strange happened. It was as if I awoke for a few moments to the sheer naturalness of the inevitability of my own death.” In this marvelous, fulsome post titled “The Mountain Road” in thinkBuddha, we learn of Will’s quite interesting and unusual introduction to Buddhism.
In a splendid, beautifully crafted post, Soen Joon of One robe, one bowl writes of the burial of a bird, with the train of events and thoughts leading to a meditation on death, rebirth and the horrors of the occupation of Korea by the Japanese during WWII. Here’s just a snippet:
“[W]hen Death drops a bird on the Dharma Hall porch, we get a little bit closer to the reality of death: stiff body. A smell of danger--infection? contagious?--and the small thorn of sadness that pushes up through the skin.”Love me, Hate me, in Bodhi and Mind.
tinythinker of peaceful turmoil writes about a phenomenon he sees in himself of sometimes being “Bodhi-er than Thou.” He writes, “I judge people harshly all the time. Of course we tend to sweep such thoughts away or try to replace them, perhaps not even admitting they were ever there. But denial isn't the answer. As a limited karmic being, though I aspire for generosity and equanamity, I sometimes can truly suck at being fair or balanced.”
In a post “Who I am and Who I Want to Be” in Integral Options Café, William Harryman writes, "One of the hardest things I faced last year in therapy was the realization that I felt unloved, and unworthy of being loved, by God (I'm not Christian, so that may sound silly, but God is the best word I have for the Eros of the Kosmos). ... I'm working on that hole within me. And part of doing that is learning to accept myself exactly as I am, whether I am satisfied with me or not.”
In a comment to a quote he presented in his post “Don’t Hate the Hate,” James of The Buddhist Blog writes, “Often when I do something that hurts or is painful to me or others I then start on the ‘hate myself’ guilt train not remembering that the self hate only makes the suffering worse.”
to free the breath from its restless tides
[part of a line from the section on Death from Khalil Gabron’s “The Prophet”]
The sudden death in Zambia of Amrita Dhammika, chaplain in the Amida Order, affected the lives of many, which includes a number of Buddhist bloggers in Britain. In his blog Dharmavidya Web, David Brazier writes of events during the past two weeks, including learning of Amrita’s death. “…a very brief phone massage from a mobile phone in Africa [told us] that Amrita in Zambia was dead. As the day went on further messages arrived confirming this awful news.” The title of his post: “Much too Much.”
Sujatin writes in lotusinthemud, “This time, when death has been much in my mind, has been uplifting, inspiring and motivating alongside the sadness at the loss of my friend in bodily form and the sorrow for her teenage daughter and all those in Zambia for whom she did so much.” Sujatin cites a post in Tyson William’s tysonwilliams.com blog, quoting Sogyal Rinpoche. It ends with these words: “The fruit of frequent and deep reflection on death will be that you will find yourself emerging, often with a sense of disgust, from your habitual patterns. You will find yourself increasingly ready to let go of them, and in the end you will be able to free yourself from them as smoothly, the masters say, ‘as drawing a hair from a slab of butter.’”
Matthew of freedomforall.net posted a photo of Amrita and these wonderful words, “This life, so precious, how often do we stop to notice. The moments passing, smiles coming and going, frowns too. It sometimes takes a harsh lesson for us to sit up and take heed. Amrita Dhammika of the Amida Buddhist Order died this week in Africa. She was a beautiful spirit, devoted to peace in all it's guises."
It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Matthew of freedomforall.net begins a post this week, “I say we live in a mad world. What do I mean? I mean that the way we collectively organise things is nothing short of insane. The three main products of our economics are work, waste and weapons.”
Trey, The Rambling Taoist, writes, “I am categorically opposed to nuclear power. It creates byproducts that are extremely lethal and NO ONE has yet to figure out how to store said byproducts safely. The continued use of all things nuclear poses one of the greatest dangers to life on planet earth.” He then proceeds to post parts of three articles [with links to full write-ups] on (1) a radioactive cloud that swept through the UK in 2003, (2) a finding that radiation in any amount is harmful & (3) an effort by the Bush Administration to restore large-scale nuclear-bomb manufacturing capacity.
Mumon of Notes in Samsara begins a post, “The creationists are in high dudgeon over Eric Pianka's somewhat Cassandra-like warnings regarding over-population exhausting resources on this planet and ‘nature’s revenge.’”
In a second Notes… post, Mumon sticks up Tom DeLay’s high school yearbook photo (taken from police headquarters) and scribes a Suesslike poem. Here is but one stanza:
You're a vile one, Tom DeLay.James of Genius of Insanity writes about major conflicts in the world that rarely make the news. Here’s just one of seven countries James cites: Sierra Leone is currently in the grips of a civil war and according to Human Rights Watch over 5o,ooo people have been killed in the conflict and over one million displaced.
You have termites in your smile.
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile.
Tom DeLay.
Ajahn Punnadhammo of Bhikkhu’s Blog writes, “[Seal hunting is] horrid and barbaric and unneccessary and should be banned. But I can't help wondering why there isn't a hundredth part of the outrage over the much crueler practises of modern factory-farming.”
William Harryman, writing in Raven’s View, quotes The Nation magazine, “Last Sunday, the New York Times reported that -- for the first time -- a full-time worker earning minimum wage cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in America at market rates.”
Then William writes, “Let's make this a central campaign issue in 2006 and 2008. Bush and the GOP have screwed the average working American in order to make their wealthy friends even wealthier. This is the kind of thing that can generate a Democratic sweep in November. … The revolution starts with us.”
In Honor of Poetry Month...
[It’s poetry month in the USA, and throughout the Buddhoblogosphere.]
A highly romantic, strictly 21st Century poem written by Jiki Sen Peg Syverson in Zen Odyssey is titled “Don’t Podcast this Poem.”
M of Zen Filter links to a modest online collection of poems by Ikkyu, Basho, and Ryokan, called “A sample of Zen Poems.”
Nacho of WoodMoor Village began a poetry meme, with haiku here, here, here, and here and a poem for poor Judas, in the manner of Paul McCartney – I think. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na Na-na-na-na Hey Jude.
Gareth of Green Clouds lives in the Mother Country, but, inspired by WV’s Nacho, is into the Colonies’ poetry meme thing. His creations this week – in text and audio – are “The British National Press”; “The Smile”; a haiku, “Merely Remembering You”; “It’s not you,” which I think has potential as a Country-Western song; “Two Halfs” and “This Night.”
Jigdral Dawa posts his poem “In Love and Honor” in The Pagan Bodhisattva.
Dave Bonta of Via Negativa posts a short poem, “Part of the Solution.”
The Stream
Kalsang Dorje of The-universe-is-all-in-your-head sends blessing and sympathy to us all in his post, “Just So Ya Know.” He writes, “I recognize that your pain is the same as mine. I've felt the same frustration, confusion, hurt, anger and the rest. I know that the circumstance changes, but the feeling is the same.”
Jigdral Dawa posts a short essay on “Sex and Buddhism” in his blog The Pagan Bodhisattva. Here is a pivotal sentence: "The only 'sin' for a Buddhist is an action that clouds the mind with anger and confusion, and embeds one further in the delusion of samsara. Calling homosexuality a 'sin' in 21st century America is nothing short of discrimination."
In a similar vein, James of Genius of Insanity excoriates Supreme Court Justice Scalia for his words recently to Swiss university students, saying that, in America, homosexuals shouldn't have privacy rights.
Recommendations
Wikid!: Jigdral Dawa of The Pagan Bodhisattva alerts us of the Integral Wiki! Can a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy be far behind!? Jigdral's assessment: “damn cool.”
J.E. of everything is illuminated recommends a “jewel” of a website, “Essential Buddhadharma (in under 10 minutes), a garland of essential points for students, by His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche.”
Justin who solo-blogs Ordinary Extraordinary recommends Nagarjuna. Writing in the group blog Flapping Mouths, quoting an online article, he says, “Nagarjuna is surely one of the most difficult philosophers to interpret in any tradition. His texts are terse and cryptic. … Nonetheless, his influence in the Mahayana Buddhist world is not only unparalleled in that tradition, but exceeds in that tradition the influence of any single Western philosopher in the West.”
And Brad Warner of Hardcore Zen [the book and the blog] recommends that you attend his Zen Micro Retreat on Tax Day, April 15th. “The perfect way to experience a bit of what a Zen retreat is like if you're too much of a wuss to do the real thing. Be there, or be un-Enlightened!”
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